The Team vs. The Technology
It’s 9 pm PST at the Inigral office. The engineering team is hard at work. Our marketing team still lingers, one working on an infographic and yours truly working on this post.
The sales folks have left, but that’s only because they got in at 6 a.m. to reach the east coast. (way earlier than I could ever make it)
It’s been a great week for the Inigral Team. Looking around I couldn’t be more thankful for the ability to work with (as I overheard Michael Staton say on a phone call yesterday) such an “intelligent, thoughtful and hardworking bunch.”
Although, this post may seem a bit out of the blue, I had to share this story after a conversation I had with Eric Stoller today.
Facebook and the Schools App
Earlier today, Eric was kind enough to take the time out of his schedule to chat about higher ed, student affairs, and give me some advice on what our team could improve on for 2012. I was just on the way out the door of our office when I glanced at our call notes and saw “we need to show higher ed why our App has functionality above and beyond what Facebook has to offer.”
It made me pause for a moment and stop to write this post. Although I agree, it’s important to explain the benefits of our technology, looking around the office, it’s about more than any functionality descriptions I can provide. It’s about our team, our mission, and our dedication to the higher ed market that stands behind our technology, not just the technology itself.
Sure, Facebook got their start on college campuses, but after seeing the potential to expand their network, they moved on to engulf the rest of the world. Facebook is now the dominant social identity for much of the U.S. and is a much different company than they were three years ago. Today, as rumors of Facebook’s IPO linger this month, and their eyes on a multi-billion dollar public offering, you have to wonder:
Are they designing for your students? Do they have institutional objectives in mind?
Why Motivations Matters
As Steve Jobs once said in reference to Apple iPod vs. Microsoft Zune:
“The older I get, the more I see how much motivations matter. The Zune was crappy because the people at Microsoft don’t really love music or art the way we do. If you don’t love something, you’re not going to go the extra mile, work the extra weekend, challenge the status quo as much.”
I could go on and on about our App’s functionality, our ability to track meaningful social data, or the new mobile features which our engineers are currently hard at work on.
Instead I just want to share photos of the team up late working at the office.
This team rarely gets the publicity they deserve, but they are really the magic working behind it all.
It’s not just about the features.
It’s about the team and the mission. We’re fortunate enough to love what we do, and are excited for what’s to come for 2012. So higher ed, I have a question..
Does FB work weekends for you?
